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I'm a free-thinker

I find it odd that Microsoft seem to be dedicating so much TV air time to their “I’m a PC” response advertisments to the Mac vs PC ads of a few years back. The odd thing is, i never remember seeing any of these ads on television. And i would remember because they were done by Mitchell and Webb in the UK. I’ve only seen them on Youtube when browsing for amusement’s sake. I reckon there could be plenty of people who are completely bemused by all these people saying, “I’m a PC” when they have never seen the original ads for reference. Maybe Microsoft will awaken people up to the realisation that actually, Windows is not the only option.

Here’s one of the Mitchell and Webb ads: The Naughty Step.

I actually thought it was illegal to make direct comparisons between your product and a direct competitor’s product in an advertising campaign, so i don’t know how Apple got away with this whole series of advertisements.

Somebody should do an ad called “I’m a free-thinker!” I haven’t sold my soul to Microsoft or to Apple. I don’t owe anybody any money. I just owe a debt of gratitude to thousands of volunteers who willing donated their time, knowledge and expertise to create the world’s best, most secure, most reliable, most flexible, freely available, freely modifiable and freely redistributable operating system.

In England and Wales (and probably the rest of the UK) you can do comparative advertising as long as the statements you make about the other product are factually accurate. You’ll see ads by Asda saying how many of their products are cheaper than Tesco’s, for instance.

That’s weird that they didn’t show the “I’m a Mac” commercials in the UK but they’re airing the “I’m a PC” ones anyway. Both companies’ commercials have been played to death in the US! (I think there are two “I’m a Mac” ones running currently, about Vista.)